Mission & Vision
Christian Peer Resources (CPR) exists to glorify God by making mature disciples of Jesus Christ among firefighters. Through the loving explanation and application of the authoritative and sufficient word of God, Christian Peer Resources seeks to assist firefighters with life’s various challenges, and to help them become established members of healthy local churches.
Beliefs
Scripture: We believe the Bible is God’s complete written revelation to man which is verbally inspired in every word and completely inerrant in the original documents. We affirm that the Bible is thus both authoritative and sufficient in all matters of faith and practice and is the primary resource of one’s spiritual growth.
God: We believe that there is but one living and true God. He is an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit– each equally deserving of worship and obedience.
Jesus Christ: We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return to earth in power and glory.
Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God. As the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, the Holy Spirit indwells all believers and baptizes them into the Body of Christ at the moment of their salvation. The Holy Spirit also sanctifies, instructs, illumines, empowers for service, and seals each believer unto the day of redemption.
Salvation: We believe that the salvation of man, who is sinful and hopelessly lost, is a free gift for all who repent of their sin and put their trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. This salvation is wholly of God, by grace, on the basis of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and the merit of His shed blood, not on the basis of human merit or works. All of the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.
Sanctification: We believe that sanctification is a joint work between God and man, where God supplies grace for Christians to grow in obedience to Christ. While Christians are made holy in a definitive sense at conversion, it still remains for them to grow in holiness. This work of grace requires believers to utilize, by faith, the normal means of grace such as Bible reading, prayer, thought renewal, and fellowship in the context of the local church. Christians will experience real progress in growing more like Christ, yet this work will be incomplete in this life.
The Church: We believe the true Church, called in Scripture the Body of Christ, is a spiritual organism comprised of every person who has trusted Jesus Christ for salvation. The local church, as established in Scripture, is made up of redeemed individuals who have joined together for worship, instruction, fellowship, and service.
The Future: We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and physically to earth and that His return is imminent. This promise of His return should unite, comfort, and motivate all believers to holy living. We believe in the future resurrection of the saved and the lost; the saved unto eternal life and the lost unto eternal condemnation.
Approach to Ministry
The counselors of Christian Peer Resources are not trained or licensed as psychotherapists or mental health professionals. Instead, they hold to a very specific approach to ministry. This approach can be summarized in four statements. First, the counselors of CPR recognize that faith in Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity for God-glorifying change to take place in the lives of counselees (John 15:5; Philippians 1:6; 2:12–13; Galatians 2:20). Therefore, counselees should fully expect CPR counselors to emphasize the need for personal faith in Jesus Christ, not only for one’s salvation, but also for the enabling power to change for the glory of God (Matthew 28:19–20). Second, the counselors of CPR are dedicated to biblical authority and sufficiency (2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:3). Therefore, we offer help to individuals within the scope of biblical parameters with full confidence that the Bible contains all the information necessary for life and godliness. Third, the counselors of CPR are committed to counsel with love and humility. Our counselors must be individuals of high moral character, who humbly study God’s word, apply it to their own lives, and accurately teach it to others (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9; Ezra 7:10; 2 Timothy 2:15). Likewise, our counselors will seek to speak the truth in love in whatever way is most appropriate to the individual in need of help (Ephesians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). Finally, the counselors of CPR recognize the local church’s priority (1 Peter 5:1–5; Hebrews 13:17). We respect the shepherding responsibility of pastors and church leaders over their own congregations. Therefore, we will work toward helping counselees establish relationships with the leadership of local churches who will provide them with long-term care.
